Quotessence
Home / Authors / Arthur Eddington
Arthur Eddington

Arthur Eddington Quotes

Astronomer

Filter quotes by topic

AllScienceTheoryIfsStarsMenPhysicsMathematicsMayWorldHas BeensKnowledgeLawNaturePhysicistUniverseElectronsFoundMathMathematicalMind

Famous Arthur Eddington Quotes

“If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell's equations - then so much the worse for Maxwell's equations. If it is found to be contradicted by observation - well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation.”

IfsGivingWellsI CanSometimesLawScienceUniverseHopeFoundTheoryErrorsPhysicsObservationPetCollapseMathematicianHumiliationEquationsPhysicistDisagreementNo HopeEntropyLaws Of PhysicsContradictingThermodynamicsScience PhysicsMaxwell
Author:Arthur Eddington
Create image

“In the world of physics we watch a shadowgraph performance of the drama of familiar life. The shadow of my elbow rests on the shadow table as the shadow ink flows over the shadow paper. It is all symbolic, and as a symbol the physicist leaves it. ... The frank realisation that physical science is concerned with a world of shadows is one of the most significant of recent advances.”

WorldWatchesDramaPaperShadowConcernedFlowPerformancesTablesPhysicsSignificantFamiliarSymbolsRealizationFrankPhysicistInkSymbolicElbowsPhysical Science
Author:Arthur Eddington
Create image

“To the pure geometer the radius of curvature is an incidental characteristic - like the grin of the Cheshire cat. To the physicist it is an indispensable characteristic. It would be going too far to say that to the physicist the cat is merely incidental to the grin. Physics is concerned with interrelatedness such as the interrelatedness of cats and grins. In this case the "cat without a grin" and the "grin without a cat" are equally set aside as purely mathematical phantasies.”

Would BeCasesPureConcernedCatMathematicsMathPhysicsMathematicalCharacteristicsIndispensablePhysicistRadiusInterrelatedness
Book:The Expanding Universe: Astronomy's 'Great Debate', 1900-1931
Create image